


Dubiety

by 5hinzee



Category: K-pop, SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Drabble Collection, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Gen, Humor, Love, M/M, Multi, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-09 08:36:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16446470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5hinzee/pseuds/5hinzee
Summary: Dubiety : the state or quality of being doubtful; uncertainty.An alternate universe where the way you find your soulmate is different for everyone.





	1. table of contents

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not entirely sure if the descriptions are good enough at explaining, so just comment or let me know if clarification is needed. This is also my first time trying to figure out formatting on here, so bear with me. I hope you all enjoy!

# Table of Contents

##### 1\. Algetic

 _Pairing:_ Jongkey

 _Pairing type:_ Not specified

 _Genre:_ N/A

 _Description:_ Kibum has felt intense and random physical pain for as long as he can remember. He doesn't discover why until over a decade of trying to.

 _Warnings:_ None


	2. Algetic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Algetic: causing or producing pain.
> 
> Kibum has felt intense and random physical pain for as long as he can remember. He doesn't discover why until over a decade of trying to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairing: Jongkey  
> Pairing type (platonic/romantic):  
> Genre: N/A  
> Warnings: None  
> Word Count: 2282
> 
> [A/N: This probably could have been edited more, but it would have required peer-editing, and I have nobody to peer-edit with at the moment. Hopefully it's enjoyable anyway! As per usual, I'm always open to suggestions and comments.]

The pain attacks him at random moments. Sometimes he’ll be sleeping, or studying, or watching the rain, or laughing at a joke his sister tells. Whether it’s a stomach ache, a sudden hardness of hearing, or migraines, it has no mercy for the circumstances of the moment. It happens regardless.

Although he experienced the pain throughout his entire life, it either became more noticeable or more painful when he turned eleven. They continued waiting for about a year, hoping that it was just to blame on invisible bruises or something of the like, something normal and common.

When he turned twelve, his mother took him to his doctor’s appointment. The boy didn’t understand much of what they were saying throughout and following the examinations. He followed the doctor’s directions, even when they required a bit of discomfort, a feeling that the cheap yellow lollipop didn’t chase away afterwards.

Perhaps the lack of comfort from sweets was because of the diagnosis. At the time, it had been a mere possibility muttered to his mother. A week later, it was all that they could come up with. Munchausen syndrome. 

Later on, this was proven false. The young boy had been sent to therapy with the idea of treating that syndrome in particular. It took about another year of physical and emotional pain for his therapist to correct his doctor. It wasn’t Munchausen syndrome; upon further inspection and testing, they came to the conclusion that it was a psychosomatic disorder.

Still, he went to therapy. This time, at least, the focus wasn’t Munchausen syndrome, but was instead identifying and treating any underlying or apparent trauma. This carried on for years. They tried different therapists, different clinics, different doctors, everything. The results turned out to be the same as they had been with their family doctor and original therapist.

The young boy obviously faced many problems growing up. This isn’t uncommon. In fact, it’s been deemed a part of growing up. As bad as it sounds, he grew bored of talking about his dead grandfather and his secret wish for a sibling. The wish for a sibling wasn’t even that big of a deal to him, in fact, he rarely thought of it until one of his therapists brought it up.

Kibum is walking home from one of these appointments with a therapist he’s seen for about six months now. Usually he takes the bus, or borrows somebody’s car, but on nicer days he prefers to walk through the busier side of town and look around.

More than looking around, of course, he’s bound to buy something. Even if he can’t afford something big, a coffee usually suffices. He heads into a cafe, as per usual, stopping just inside the door when he feels a sudden pain in his stomach. Rather than hissing out loud, he manages to do nothing more than wince as he moves out of the doorway.

Perhaps he’s just gotten well at masking the exact amount of pain that he’s in. Especially because of school, where it’s harder to fit in if one is constantly doubling over in pain and crying in the middle of class for no clear reason. He strides over to the counter, exerting confidence, while hoping nobody notices the bit of hesitation in his step.

After ordering and paying, he looks around for a seat with desperation. There is not a single part of him that believes that he can or wants to stand for another moment. To his disappointment, there aren’t many seats, and are too many people wanting drinks this afternoon.

One empty seat awaits him across the room. A man—most likely a student, judging from the open laptop and textbook on the table—sits across from the empty chair, so focused that he seems to be in a whole other world.

Kibum ignores the predicted awkwardness of having to talk and sit with a stranger, heading towards the man without another thought. The man is brought out of his focused trance by the time he is standing in front of him, easily smiling as a greeting once he sees that Kibum is about to ask him something.

“Do you mind if I sit here?”

It is difficult for him to tell if his voice is either too desperate or too emotionless, but he shrugs it off when the man nods and begins to move his things.

“Oh, of course-”

“No, don’t worry about it, you don’t have to move your things. I’ll only be here for a moment, don’t mind me,” Kibum interrupts as he sits, not wanting to disturb the stranger’s studies. The other shrugs and sets his things back down in order to pick up a purple highlighter instead.

A moment of silence passes, and Kibum is trying his hardest not to scream at the pain. Just when he almost loses his composure completely, the stranger speaks. “My name’s Onew, by the way. What’s yours?”

He looks at the stranger—Onew, apparently—both startled and annoyed by the sudden conversation. On one hand, he’d really rather not be trying to make small talk while his stomach feels like it’s being cut open. On the other hand, it does distract him a bit as they begin speaking.

“Key.”

“Oh, are you a foreigner? I haven’t met anyone with that name before. Your pronunciation is different, too.”

“You’re one to talk… Onew, was it?”

Onew nods before laughing at the comment, running a hand through his dark brown hair. The male seems to contemplate actually studying as he stares at his work for a moment. He decides against the thought, instead looking back at Key.

For a few minutes, Onew rambles to Key about both things that do and don’t make sense to him. From schoolwork to sports terms, Key is distracted from the pain for a while, until the other goes over the limit with his rambling and he starts to get annoyed. His name is called by the barista right at that moment, causing him to immediately stand..

Onew pauses his rambling, smiling at him instead. Key is about to big his goodbye when the other waves again for him to come closer. Despite the weird looks he gives him, wanting to leave right away instead, he goes along with it anyway.

_Won’t have to see him again anyway, right?_

Onew flashes a smile before whispering to him, “I have a secret.”

Another weird look. “And?”

“My name’s Minho, not Onew. Onew is my friend’s nickname.”

Kibum visibly relaxes, thankful that it wasn’t something creepy or weird. He runs his hand through his hair before responding, “Oh. And Key’s just a nickname I tell strangers. My full name is Kibum.”

He inhales sharply at the end of his sentence, a sudden pain digging into his stomach once again. Minho seems to notice, but doesn’t say anything, instead waving at him.

“Nice meeting you, Key.”

Kibum responds with the same before grabbing his coffee from the counter, leaving before he can even check if he grabbed the right drink.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

The walk home is a rather quick one. Kibum sped the whole way there, rushing his greetings with the neighbors and acquaintances he passed. By the time he gets there and collapses on his couch, though, the pain is gone. He had been so focused on getting home that he hadn’t even noticed when it stopped.

_When did it stop, then?_

He lies there on his couch for a while, this time not because of pain, but trying to figure out when it had stopped. His original plan was to do this, anyway; lying on the couch with his dogs close by. The only difference is that he isn’t in pain.

_Kibum probably spilled a quarter of his coffee due to his rushing down the sidewalk. If he were in the mood to notice, he probably would’ve thought that there was a trail of coffee behind him on the hot surface of the sidewalk. And immediately after, it would probably be gone because of the said heat._

_He is stopped by an old woman on the sidewalk, greeting her with a fake yet believable smile. The woman is one of his mother’s high school classmates, so he’d definitely get an earful if he had chosen to just keep walking. No matter what, he wasn’t an asshole and wasn’t going to ignore the nice old lady for no reason._

_Just as he turned around and began walking again, he ran into something—or someone, rather. His free hand curled up in a fist, gripped tightly because of the pain, ended up as an unintended weapon. His curled up fist is the first part of his body to come into contact with whomever it is._

_After running into one another, Kibum didn’t even notice that he had practically punched a stranger in the gut. The said stranger is a male, now bending over and clutching his stomach. Once over the pain in his head, Kibum stands up and--_

“That’s it!”

Kibum exclaims, alarming both of his previously sleeping puppies as they do the same. He gives an apologetic smile, petting both of them as he goes back to thinking.

“After I ran into that guy, that’s when it stopped…”

_apologizes to the other male. It takes a minute for the stranger to respond. Just when Kibum thinks that he’s being ignored, the other stands up and waves it off._

_“It’s fine, that was my bad. I wasn’t looking where I was looking.”_

_“I wasn’t either,” he responds with a small smile. He notices the pain in the other’s face was now replaced with a perplexed expression, but decides not to question it. Instead, he wipes spilled coffee off of his hand and onto his pants as he asks, “Are you okay, Mr. …?”_

_“Kim. Kim Jonghyun. I’m fine, and you, Mr. …?”_

_“Kim. Kim Kibum. I’m also fine. Have a good rest of your day, then.”_

_The latter of the two gives a nod before continuing on his way, a relieved sigh escaping his lips at not having to continue with his polite tone used specifically for strangers. Once again, he focuses on rushing back home._

“And here I am. Painlessly.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------

It lasts longer than that night. The pain hasn’t come back for over a week now, and Kibum is starting to get suspicious. His therapist thinks she had a breakthrough when he tells her this exactly one week from the incident; which had been the day of their last appointment. 

He tells her about Jonghyun as he explains the exact moment when the pain stopped. Suddenly, her gleeful and prideful expression hides itself behind pressed together lips and slightly squinted eyes. She seems to be holding back a laugh, which is ironic, because he is doing the same at how the woman looks in that moment.

“Did you get this Jonghye’s number?”

Kibum doesn’t even bother to correct her on his name. Instead, he tilts his head in confusion and shakes his head. 

“Why would I get a stranger’s number?”

His therapist refuses to explain what she means for the remainder of their time, and he leaves feeling much more confused than when he had arrived. A month later, he finally gets to understand what she meant.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Kibum had continued with his weekly appointments, still worried about the pain returning. For pain that had lasted about a decade to suddenly disappear just seemed unlikely. He updated his therapist at every appointment, although now, he didn’t have much to say. That the pain hasn’t returned is all he could think to say, but it seemed that the woman was waiting for him to say something else every time.

After Kibum finished one of these appointments, he walked out of the room and through the waiting room. The plan was to get home quickly to cook and clean, as parents would be coming over for dinner that evening. That is, until he watches his plan falling apart from the moment somebody calls his name.

“Kibum-ssi?”

He turns around to the unfamiliar voice rather slowly. His disappointed expression quickly changes once he sees the owner of the voice: a male with blond hair stares at him, voice hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure if he is calling out to the right person.

“Jonghyun-ssi?”

His eyes widened as he said the other’s name, surprise written clearly on both of their foreheads. Jonghyun’s hair color may have changed, but he is vaguely able to recognize him. Not because he remembered subtle features, but more because he had been thinking about the other for about a month straight now.

The first thing that Kibum learns about Jonghyun is the look in his eye when he’s hesitating to say something. It doesn’t show in his expression, but Kibum can still tell, while to others it probably only reads the obvious surprise.

“Would you like to grab a coffee?”

He finds himself nodding in response before the question even registers in his mind. Jonghyun was the next appointment, but their shared therapist watches him walk away from his appointment with someone who is both the cause and cure of his pain, and smiles to herself.

“It took them long enough,” she sighs as she goes back to her desk. The first thing she does is pull up two separate files, jotting down a few notes.

> “Experienced physical and emotional pain since the age of 11. Physical pain was not directly related to emotional suffering and has been concluded as a symptom of having a soulmate.”

She copies and pastes the sentences into both files, closing them before checking the time.

“Jonghye-ssi should bring me a coffee back, too.”


End file.
